The real-life setting of this story is pretty mundane: a hairdresser, a parking lot, a hotel lobby, a drugstore – all everyday elements of any town or city. The banality or dullness of these locations reflects the dullness of Walter's everyday life. This is greatly contrasted with the settings of Walter's fantasies: a "Navy hydroplane" in a storm, an operating room, a courtroom, a dugout, a wall before a firing squad. These settings are dramatic, exciting, and